Squeaky Fromme soon out of prison in Ford case

Lynette Fromme

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, August 6, 2009

This is a 1970 photo of Manson "family" member Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, at pre-trial hearings in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

This is a 1970 photo of Manson "family" member Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, at pre-trial hearings in Los Angeles. (AP Photo)

Photo: AP

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A courtroom artist's sketch shows Lynette Fromme (left) throwing an apple at U.S. Attorney Dwayne Keyes during a hearing in Sacramento, Calif., on December 17, 1975. Fromme was on trial for attempting to kill President Gerald Ford. less

A courtroom artist's sketch shows Lynette Fromme (left) throwing an apple at U.S. Attorney Dwayne Keyes during a hearing in Sacramento, Calif., on December 17, 1975. Fromme was on trial for attempting to kill ... more

Photo: UPI

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U.S. Secret Service agents put handcuffs on Lynette Fromme after she allegedly pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford as he walked from his hotel to the State Capitol building in Sacramento, Ca., on Sept. 5, 1975. The agent holding Fromme at center, wearing dark glasses, is Larry Bruendorf. (AP Photo) less

U.S. Secret Service agents put handcuffs on Lynette Fromme after she allegedly pointed a gun at President Gerald Ford as he walked from his hotel to the State Capitol building in Sacramento, Ca., on Sept. 5, ... more

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

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FILE - In this Nov. 25, 1975 file photo, Lynette Fromme sits in a U.S. Marshal's auto in Sacramento, Calif. as she returned to jail when jurors in her trial recessed for the evening. Fromme is accused of attempting to assassinate President Ford with a gun outside the California Capitol in Sacramento on Sept. 5. The Federal Bureau of Prisons and the court-appointed attorney who represented Fromme at trial say the now 60-year-old is to be released from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, on Aug. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Walt Zeboski, Pool) less

FILE - In this Nov. 25, 1975 file photo, Lynette Fromme sits in a U.S. Marshal's auto in Sacramento, Calif. as she returned to jail when jurors in her trial recessed for the evening. Fromme is accused of ... more

Photo: Walt Zeboski, AP

Squeaky Fromme soon out of prison in Ford case

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Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, the waif-like Charles Manson follower who tried to shoot President Gerald Ford outside the Capitol in Sacramento in 1975, will be released from prison as early as Aug. 14, authorities said Wednesday.

Fromme, now 60, has been serving a life sentence in Texas. A federal parole board granted her parole last year, but her release was delayed because she got extra time after trying to escape from a West Virginia facility in 1987.

Traci Billingsley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, said Fromme remains at a prison for women with special medical or mental health needs in Fort Worth, Texas. Billingsley said her agency had the authority to release Fromme Aug. 14, 15 or 16. She said she did not have any information about Fromme's plans.

The 1975 assassination attempt came six years after Manson followers committed the "Helter Skelter" murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others - killings that happened 40 years ago this weekend. Fromme did not take part in those killings, authorities said. She was arrested in connection with another homicide, but the charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

Fromme stood vigil at the Manson trial and, like other supporters, carved an "X" on her forehead as a sign of solidarity. Manson, who had recruited her off the streets in Southern California, called her "Squeaky" because of her voice.

Speaking of the Manson Family and his influence over them, Fromme once said, "Charlie's in love with love. And I'm in love with love, so I'm in love with Charlie. All of us are."

When Manson was serving time in Folsom Prison, she moved to nearby Sacramento, where she tried to interest reporters in her cause.

On Sept. 5, 1975, as Ford was on his way to address the California Legislature, Fromme was in the crowd, wearing a red dress, turban and purse. As Ford drew near, Fromme pulled a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, aimed it at the president and pulled the trigger.

Witnesses nearby heard the "click" of the hammer dropping. Secret Service agents later found that the pistol had four rounds in its magazine, but the chamber was empty.

Agents quickly swarmed the 105-pound Fromme and wrestled the weapon from her hand. She was heard to shout at the time, "Don't get excited! It didn't go off! It didn't go off!"

Fromme, 27 at the time of her trial, tried to serve as her own attorney but was so disruptive that she spent most of the trial watching the proceedings on a TV in her jail cell.

She argued with the attorneys and the judge, and during her sentencing threw an apple at the prosecuting attorney, hitting him in the head.

"All of you lawyers throw words around from what I've seen," she said during the sentencing hearing. "If I lay out my heart to you, it's like throwing it away.

"I want Manson out. I want my world at peace. I know that none of you can bring it."

Fromme was sentenced to life in prison. She served a couple of years in the women's prison in Dublin, but was transferred after attacking another inmate with a claw hammer.

"She felt there were a number of injustices in the world, primarily the continued incarceration of Manson and his followers for murder. She also considered herself to be an environmentalist," Bravin said.

To Fromme, President Ford "symbolized this unjust society," he said.

"She said she had no personal anger toward Gerald Ford. ... By assaulting him, she could seize attention for these issues."

She once denounced the president in an interview with the Associated Press, saying, "If Nixon's reality, wearing a new Ford face, continues to run the country against the law, our homes will be bloodier than the Tate-LaBianca houses and My Lai put together."

Just 17 days after Fromme tried to shoot Ford, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, fired at him outside the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. But a disabled ex-Marine grabbed her arm, causing the bullet to miss, ricochet off a building and strike a bystander.

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Ford died of natural causes at age 93 on Dec. 26, 2006.

Manson remains behind bars at Corcoran State Prison.

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